Features

The Gerald Anderson Band will perform at the Rex Theater at 5 p.m on April 17 as part of the grand opening celebration for the Chestnut Creek School of the Arts.

Anderson will be joined by Jimmy Edmonds on fiddle, Butch Barker on bass and Paul Trianosky on mandolin.

Anderson, accomplished guitar player and luthier, has made more than 25 recordings and has more than 200 ribbons from musical competitions — the most prestigious being the award for best guitar player at the 2003 Galax Old Fiddlers' Convention.

The Young Actors Co-op — a group of talented, young actors — will ham it up in Victorian-era theater costumes and show off their juggling and unicycle-riding skills in the Parade of the Arts on Saturday at noon, a featured event of Chestnut Creek School of the Arts' grand opening.

The parade will begin at the Galax Recreation Center and head north on Main Street, turning onto Center Street and then onto Grayson Street.

“This parade is going to be full of fun and surprises,” said Sandra Hankley, a volunteer for CCSA.

When local DJ and emcee Harold Mitchell was bedridden with rheumatic fever at six years old, the radio kept him company as he listened to the legends on the Grand Ole Opry.

During the five-hour radio program, he would hear greats such as Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Kitty Wells and comedians and radio announcers. However, it was the harmonies of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys that caught his ear, and that’s when he fell in love with bluegrass.

From then on, he knew one way or another he was going to be in the radio business.

The memory of Carolyn Peddy, a generous teacher who lost her battle with cancer, will live on at Oakland Elementary with Think Pink Day.

Principal Junior Gentry and teacher Sheila Hommema came up with the idea to ensure that educators, parents and students wouldn't forget the quiet contributions that Peddy made during her time at Oakland.

If Peddy saw one of her students wearing worn-out shoes, she'd find a suitable pair, put them in the child's cubby and point them out to the student as if someone else had left them, Hommema said.

On a cool Saturday morning in April, more than 53 years ago, history was made for one young pilot and witnessed by only one other pair of eyes at the old Galax airport.

The teen dubbed the “Youngest Pilot in Galax” at the time took to the air by accident, and showed his skill and resolve by coming back down to earth in one piece.

On Aug. 8, Ted Hall — now 71 years old and living near Baltimore, Md. — realized a dream of recreating his first solo flight in a J-3 Cub.

Soldiers on the battlefield keep in their hearts a reminder of what they're fighting for:

God. Country. Freedom.

Their sweetheart back home.

And... biscuits and gravy?

From the flight decks of aircraft carriers and the beaches of Normandy to the jungles of Vietnam and the deserts of Iraq, soldiers from Galax longed for a taste of home.

Forget apple pie, that most patriotic of dishes.

A Southern soldier's belly rumbles like a Sherman tank for pinto beans and corn bread, pork tenderloin and fried chicken.

The first Christmas Gathering, sponsored by the Galax Downtown Association and Twin County Regional Chamber of Commerce, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, starting at 3 p.m., featuring door prizes, refreshments and entertainment throughout downtown Galax.

The event, originally set for Saturday, was postponed due to the snowstorm.

Christmas music will be performed by local guitarist Brandon Davis, and names will be drawn to win all sorts of items, even Christmas trees and gift certificates.

Friends Jacquie Roberts, Alison Bolen and Stephannie Dees share a common goal: to feed every hungry child in the Galax community.

Roberts was touched by the story about Backpack Buddies she saw a few months ago on the “Today Show,” as it showed how communities are coming together to help battle hunger in children.

That’s when she called Bolen, a member of Galax Presbyterian Church, who immediately spread the word.

Joe Wilson has spent much of his life preserving the legendary music of America's past, and this week the nation returns the favor.

The folklorist, who lives in Fries, is set to receive the “Living Legend” award today, Friday, from the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.